Iowa Bill Would Require Medical Examiners to Include Vaccine Records in Infant Death Investigations

Iowa legislators are considering a bill that would require medical examiners to document recent immunizations on the death certificates of children who died from unknown causes, KIMT3 News reported.

Bill sponsor Rep. Samantha Fett of Warren County said this information is important to understand what might be behind deaths categorized as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

“The U.S. continues to have a high SIDS rate compared to every other industrialized nation,” Fett told The Defender. “I believe it is time to start gathering this information for the parents of the children who have died.”

Fett said health departments also should have this information so health officials and medical examiners can ensure that every medication a child takes is taken into consideration when trying to determine why a child died.

Medical researcher Neil Z. Miller, author of numerous books on vaccine safety, told The Defender that “of course” the bill is a good idea.